Operational and Environmental Consequences of Large Industrial Cooling Water Systems

This book highlights environmental issues arising from industrial-scale
abstraction of cooling water from natural water bodies such as rivers, lakes and coastal seas, and addresses operational issues with primary emphasis on biofouling and its control.

The use of water for industrial purposes is of foremost importance. It is used as a coolant and industrial activities dealing with power generation, steel and iron, paper and pulp and oil require very large amounts of water. The industry, therefore, resorts to large scale abstraction of water from natural water bodies. This water is often treated with chemicals to combat operational problems like biofouling and corrosion. Such withdrawal and subsequent discharge of large amounts of water have the potential to impart significant impact on the recipient water body. The organisms drawn along with the cooling water, as well as those residing at the discharge zone, are subjected to a combination of mechanical, thermal and chemical stress on a continuous basis.

General Overview.- Entrainment of Fish Larvae, What is the Risk for 0+ Fish?- Fish Impingement and Prevention Seen in the Light of Population Dynamics.- The Ecology of Fouling.- Chemistry of Chlorination.- Chlorination for Biofouling Control.- Control of Microbial Fouling and MIC (Microbially Influenced Corrosion) in Raw Water Systems.- Chlorine By-Products and their Environmental Effects.- Alternatives for Chlorine.- Cooling Water Systems – Design Aspects for Minimisation of Biofouling and Environmental Impact.- Monitoring of Biofouling.- Implications of the Discharge of Heated Cooling Water.- Environmental Effects of Power Plant Induced Thermal and Chlorine Stress on Phytoplankton.- Impact of Condenser Discharge on Intertidal Fauna: Sand Crabs as Indicator Organisms.- Chlorine Stress Evaluation using Microalgal Bioassay.- Exotics or Alien Nuisance Species.- The Strength of Modelling Biotic and Abiotic Factors Like Temperature and Chlorine in and Around Plants.